EXCLUSIVE: Adrian Grenier’s Faith, KJ Apa’s turn as James Stewart, Renée Zellweger’s directing debut and Michael Keaton’s Sweetwater lead a five-day Central Texas celebration, with Revolution’s Daughter closing the festival.
Latin Heat can exclusively reveal that central Texas is getting a new film festival with some formidable names on the marquee. Adrian Grenier, KJ Apa, James Hong, Martin Freeman, Renée Zellweger and Michael Keaton are among the talents represented in the inaugural Leander Film Festival, launching November 11–15, 2026, with a lineup bringing Hollywood icons, Texas premieres, international filmmaking and emerging voices together for five days of cinema.
From the life of screen legend James Stewart to the extraordinary journey of Alina Fernández, Fidel Castro’s daughter, the program spans biographical drama, science fiction, animation, martial arts comedy and documentary. Screenings at venues including Alamo Drafthouse, Film Alley and AMC will anchor a festival experience that also includes filmmaker conversations, industry programming and opportunities to discover the next generation of storytellers.
For Latino audiences, the inaugural edition offers several compelling connections: Puerto Rican actress Paola Andino in the thriller You Can’t Leave; Entourage star Adrian Grenier, whose maternal grandfather is Mexican, in Faith; Julian Works in JIMMY; and the closing-night documentary Revolution’s Daughter, featuring Cuban cultural powerhouses including Gloria Estefan and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz.
Those connections run through a broader slate packed with recognizable talent and Texas ties. Two-time Academy Award winner Zellweger’s first film as a director comes home to her native state. Keaton steps behind the camera while sharing the screen with Kyra Sedgwick. And KJ Apa takes on one of American cinema’s most beloved figures in JIMMY.
KJ Apa and Julian Works Revisit a Screen Legend’s Wartime Story
With JIMMY, the festival turns its attention to James Stewart, an enduring icon of American cinema whose work includes It’s a Wonderful Life, Rear Window and Vertigo. KJ Apa, best known for starring in Riverdale, portrays Stewart in the biographical drama directed by Aaron Burns.
The cast also includes Julian Works, known for 9-1-1: Lone Star and The Long Game, as Second Lieutenant Martinez, a Mexican American pilot who flies alongside Stewart during World War II. As the film follows Stewart’s twenty combat missions and his return to Hollywood, their bond brings a Latino presence into this pivotal chapter of the screen legend’s life.
Works’ connection to The Long Game also extends to the festival’s industry programming. The Texas-shot drama will be among the productions discussed during the festival’s SB22 panel on Texas film incentives, with local producers including Christian Sosa, an executive producer of The Long Game, attending.
Texas-based writer Justin Strawhand is confirmed to attend the screening and red carpet, while co-star Kara Killmer will attend the closing ceremony. Their participation adds a local connection to a film centered on a performer whose legacy reaches across generations.
Adrian Grenier Brings Faith to Its First Public Screening
The festival will host the first public screening of Faith, featuring Adrian Grenier. The locally shot comedy follows an optimistic teacher who takes over as pastor of a small-town Texas church after his father unexpectedly retires amid tragedy. Grenier plays Tyler, a rival pastor.
Grenier, best known for Entourage and The Devil Wears Prada, also brings a Mexican American connection to the lineup through his maternal grandfather. His family’s history was explored on PBS’s Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Shot locally, Faith brings the actor known to television audiences as Vincent Chase in Entourage into a distinctly Texas setting. Its first public showing gives Leander audiences an early opportunity to discover the project, accompanied by exclusive, previously unpublished images.
Paola Andino Joins an Adventurous Genre Lineup
Paola Andino joins the inaugural lineup in You Can’t Leave, directed by Scott Windhauser and also starring Spencer Boldman. The thriller follows a search for a missing sister into a forest with a sinister hold on those who enter.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Texas, Andino brings a particularly fitting connection to the festival. Audiences first came to know her as the lead of Nickelodeon’s Every Witch Way, with later credits including Queen of the South and Lisa Frankenstein. Shot in Dallas and produced by Robert Paschall Jr., You Can’t Leave also brings a distinctive screening opportunity: according to festival organizers, Leander is the only festival in the country showing the film during its active theatrical run.
The wider program has plenty for genre fans to explore. James Hong, whose extraordinary career includes Big Trouble in Little China, Kung Fu Panda and Everything Everywhere All at Once, stars in the martial arts comedy Gimme My Money.
Martin Freeman, the Emmy-winning star of Sherlock, Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy and Everett Ross in Marvel’s Black Panther films, brings further international star power to the lineup with Little Bug. Owen Teale, known to Game of Thrones audiences as Alliser Thorne, stars in Something Pointless, while beloved Texas screen veteran Barry Corbin, whose credits include Urban Cowboy and Northern Exposure, appears in Heaven and Hell.
Together, these selections offer the pleasure of seeing performers associated with major franchises, acclaimed television and landmark films working across an adventurous independent program.
Revolution’s Daughter Brings a Powerful Cuban Story to Closing Night
The festival will close on November 15 at AMC with Revolution’s Daughter, Peabody and Emmy-winning director Thaddeus D. Matula’s documentary about Alina Fernández, her escape from Cuba and the life she built beyond the shadow of her father, Fidel Castro.
The film brings a deeply personal perspective to a story shaped by power, exile, family and identity. Its participants include Gloria Estefan, Nilo Cruz, artist José Bedia and poet and art critic Ricardo Pau-Llosa, placing Fernández’s experience alongside voices with profound connections to Cuban culture.
Local Leander producer John Martinez O’Felan’s involvement connects the closing-night selection to a mission he articulated in his 2022 Latin Heat interview: creating more Latino stories and greater opportunities for Latino talent. Having discussed bringing Fernández’s life to the screen through Alina of Cuba, he now helps bring her own voice to the forefront in Revolution’s Daughter, placing a Cuban woman’s account of family, power and exile at the center of Leander’s closing night.
John Martinez O’Felan will attend alongside fellow producers Austin-based Allen Gilmer, Riki Rushing and Joe Lamy adding further Central Texas connections to the closing-night event.
For Leander’s inaugural closing night, the selection brings an internationally resonant story into a festival that is also celebrating the creative life of its own region.
Zellweger and Keaton Bring Star Power Behind the Camera
Few names carry the combination of critical acclaim and audience affection associated with Renée Zellweger. The star of Bridget Jones’s Diary, Chicago, Cold Mountain and Judy enters a new chapter with They, her directorial debut, which will make its Texas premiere at Leander.
The retro-styled animated short gives audiences a different view of an artist whose performances have helped define some of the most memorable films of the past three decades. For the Texas-born actress, its place in the inaugural lineup adds a home-state connection to a significant creative milestone.
Michael Keaton, whose screen career stretches from Batman and Beetlejuice to Birdman and Spotlight, also brings his work as a director to the festival. He directs and stars opposite Kyra Sedgwick in Sweetwater, a 21-minute science-fiction drama making its Texas premiere.
The film uses a futuristic premise to explore intimate emotional territory. Screenwriter Sean Douglas, Keaton’s son, is confirmed to attend, giving festivalgoers a direct connection to the creative team behind one of the lineup’s most prominent selections.
Hollywood Experience, Texas Ambition
Helping drive the inaugural festival is co-founder Sasha Yelaun, a producer whose credits include The Old Way, starring Nicolas Cage; Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, featuring Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver and Christopher Lloyd; The Vanished, with Thomas Jane and Anne Heche; and Hellfire, starring Stephen Lang. His experience bringing established screen talent and independent productions together lends Hollywood industry experience to Leander’s ambitious debut.
Yelaun co-founded the festival alongside Mike Herrera, a Leander City Council member and community arts advocate; Laura Davis, founder of Davis Consulting AI; and Diane Herrera, founder and CEO of CSSI Solutions. The founding team brings together film production, civic leadership, communications and business expertise to help establish a new destination for cinema in Central Texas.
The festival operates under the nonprofit Leander Arts & Film Alliance, which supports film, arts, cultural programming and creative education. Its setting has a cinematic history of its own: Leander is a Film Friendly Texas community, and the city’s Bagdad Cemetery appears in the opening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Five Days of Discovery
The festival begins on Veterans Day, November 11, with a special out-of-competition screening of the animated Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero at the Leander VFW. Across the following days, the program moves between established talent and new discoveries, with Texas filmmaking, student work, international shorts and experimental storytelling sharing the spotlight.
Additional selections include Our House Is on Fire, directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Alice Biletska, alongside Texas-connected work such as Tough Enough, Missing Socks and Let Fall the Rain. Alex Hanno’s psychological thriller Bravado will make its Texas premiere, with star Luca Malacrino confirmed to attend. Academy Award-nominated director Jonathan Heap will also attend with Ghosts of ’45, adding another filmmaker conversation to the inaugural program.
Filmmaker Q&As, workshops, panels, networking events and awards extend the experience beyond the screenings. The festival’s Feature Screenplay & Co-Production Pitch Market will offer cash prizes and development packages to selected finalists, creating another avenue for emerging writers.
For its first edition, Leander is bringing together the appeal of cinema’s celebrated names and the excitement of finding something new. Audiences can encounter Zellweger’s first work behind the camera, Keaton’s latest directing effort, Apa’s portrayal of James Stewart, Grenier’s new comedy and a Cuban documentary with a remarkable cultural ensemble, all within the same five-day program.
The inaugural Leander Film Festival runs November 11–15, 2026, in Central Texas. For passes, screening details and festival updates, visit leanderfilmfestival.com.